PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a super heavyweight MMA rules bout between Hannu Karpo (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Rakastaja Nurminen (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Nurminen has chosen Gay Bar as his entrance music, which hasn't gone down very well with the crowd. We have two fighters making their debuts here, so let's see who comes out of this one with their first professional victory.

Karpo
vs
Nurminen

208 cm
25
278 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

194 cm
25
225 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Good knees
Cuts easily

BJJ White Belt
Good kicks
Inexperienced

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the super heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Hannu Karpo!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Rakastaja Nurminen!
The judges for this bout are Frank Dennis, George Francis and Robert Twigg.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Nurminen lands a right hook to the body.
Nice takedown defense from Nurminen. No joy for Karpo on that attempt.
Nurminen waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Karpo.
Karpo fakes a couple of low kicks, before throwing one on the third attempt. It connects and Nurminen has to reset his feet before getting ready to engage.
Karpo tries to clinch but Nurminen moves out of range.
Nurminen lands with a shot to the body.
Karpo is breathing heavily.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Nurminen throws a sloppy head kick

and Karpo counters with a takedown into side control.
We may be looking at a referee standup if the pace doesn't pick up soon.
Nurminen is looking for a sweep.
Karpo is looking to take a break and control but Nurminen is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Nurminen really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Karpo. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
The strikes coming from Karpo are missing the target in this wave of attacks.
Nurminen wants to control but Karpo postures up.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Karpo postures up a little and throws a couple of hammerfists but they don't connect properly.

Karpo tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Karpo has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
Karpo controlling the position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Karpo is working Nurminen over with some ground and pound from side control.
Nurminen parries the strikes from Karpo easily there. Karpo is wary of posturing up too much because it might enable Nurminen to escape.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Karpo moving around in side mount but really he's just happy to control for now.
Nurminen stops Karpo from passing to mount.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Karpo throws a knee to the body but it doesn't do much damage.

Karpo is trying to get an arm triangle but Nurminen is defending well.
Nurminen struggling a bit here.
Nurminen is trying to improve his position.
Karpo throws a strike aimed at the side of Nurminen's head but Nurminen avoids it well.
Karpo has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
You can see the frustration on Nurminen's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
Karpo will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
Karpo misses with a strike but at least he's keeping busy, looking to cause some damage - that will still help him when it comes to the judges scorecards.
Karpo working away.
Karpo trying to control the action but Nurminen is working from the bottom.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Hannu Karpo will probably get the nod.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

Karpo feints with a shoulder and throws a nice leg kick to Nurminen's calf.
Karpo uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Nurminen.
Nurminen throws a hook but Karpo avoids it easily.
Karpo attempts a low kick but it misses it's target.
Nurminen with a nice cross.
A telegraphed right hand from Nurminen misses the target.
Karpo shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Nurminen defends it nicely.
Karpo looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Nurminen is fending him off so far but Karpo persists. Nope, Nurminen circles away and we're back to standing.
Karpo shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Nurminen pinned against the cage. Nurminen gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Hannu Karpo. That's going to take a lot out of him.

Nurminen gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Nurminen connects with a nasty looking knee right to Karpo's face.
Nurminen throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Karpo blocks it with crossed arms.
Nurminen is trying to slow down the pace in the clinch, to catch his breath.
Karpo drops down looking for an ankle pick but Nurminen pulls his leg out and moves away.
Karpo tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.

Nurminen clinches up against the cage.
Nurminen tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Nurminen content to slow the pace in the clinch.
Nurminen tries to land a knee to the head but Karpo blocks with his arms.
Karpo drops down looking for an ankle pick but Nurminen pulls his leg out and moves away.
Nurminen misses with a body shot.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Nurminen connects with a looping right hand.
Nurminen lands a jab to Karpo's midsection.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Nurminen misses with a body shot.
Nurminen throws a sloppy head kick and Karpo moves out of range easily.
Karpo will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Karpo shoots in for a double leg but Nurminen sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
Nurminen scores with a kick to the body.
Nurminen lands a leg kick that knocks Karpo off balance momentarily.
Nurminen lets loose with a powerful body kick. Karpo will feel that in the morning.
Rakastaja Nurminen is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Like a baseball bat into the meat of his leg there - nice leg kick by Nurminen.
Karpo on the wrong end of an overhand right that came out of nowhere.
A jab from Nurminen misses.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Nurminen is looking to slow Karpo down with leg kicks.
Nurminen throws a looping overhand right but Karpo ducks down to avoid it.
Nurminen misses with a wild body shot.
Karpo walks straight into an uppercut. Luckily it didn't land flush.
Karpo closes the distance and takes a jab right on the nose as he does so.
A jab from Nurminen does it's job there.

It looks like Hannu Karpo has been cut.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Nurminen throws out a loose jab but Karpo uses good head movement to avoid it.
Nurminen connects with a good right hand that stumbles Karpo. Karpo circles away out of range and recomposes himself.
Nurminen dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
Nurminen cracks Karpo on the jaw with a powerful right hand and Karpo falls backwards against the cage. Nurminen follows up with more strikes that drop Karpo to his knees. Nurminen keeps the pressure on and the referee jumps in to save Karpo! This one is all over!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:52 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Rakastaja Nurminen!